Diogenes Explains How to Do Nothing
Andrew Coffin
E2D1
November 10, 2020
We all have read How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. A book filled with advice and quotes from more than just a variety of sources. The quotes are arranged to guide readers through the thoughts of one eccentric reader who has taken up writing to help other readers to enrich their lives. Her goal, for readers to explore their surroundings and find joy in doing nothing, was not accomplished only with her own words. Odell referenced many authors and creative-minded individuals to present readers, but when Odell wanted to talk about Diogenes, she found Diogenes of Sinope, by Luis E. Navia. And with the help of Navia, Odell inspires interest with rather unusual stories of an unconventional man. But I believe that Odell could have included more from Diogenes of Sinope because the book could offer more insight into Odell’s goal of self-help.
To start, I want to explain cynicism and Diogenes. Today’s version of cynicism is viewed as a negative outlook on life and seeing no point in life. But twenty-five hundred years ago, during Diogenes’ life, cynicism was a sort of moral high ground. People who choose to live as cynics would give up all belongings amongst other ascetic choices. This life philosophy was meant to be simple and would allow cynics to criticize the rest of society for their greed and selfishness. The reason that Diogenes is one of the most famous cynics is because of his story and the way he told it. Diogenes was born to a banker, someone who would make and loan money during those times. Therefore, many sources agree that Diogenes could have lived a prosperous life wanting for little. However, after his education, he gave up a material life and little of his family or wealth is spoken of after this choice. The drastic change from rich to poor stands out as an interesting story, but Diogenes did not let his story end there. The real cause for Diogenes to stand out in history is his names and the reasons he got them. Diogenes the Dog, Diogenes the Man in the Tub, Diogenes the Cynic. Each name originates from stories collected in Navia’s Diogenes of Sinope and many other writings dedicated to Cynicism or Diogenes.
Diogenes of Sinope by Luis E. Navia is an attempt to completely describe one of the most famous cynical philosophers. This book is referenced in How to Do Nothing and I believe has much more to offer. There are more than enough stories to describe Diogenes’ actions and philosophy, but many contradict facts, both vital and insignificant details. These many disputed facts and scenarios over hundreds of years lead to questionable interpretations of Diogenes. But in Diogenes of Sinope, Navia shows his extensive study and analysis of the subject of Diogenes and the philosophy of Diogenes. From his detailed explanation of his findings to the detailed and lengthy appendix, bibliography, and index, it is obvious that Navia has spent more than enough time becoming an expert of Diogenes and Cynicism. Navia provides hundreds of articles, essays, and other written works in the bibliography and I found myself exploring the many works to further my study of Diogenes. I believe that this, like many of Navia’s writings, should be considered more often and more prevalently in many life self-help books. Navia wants readers to be informed so that they might, by being aware of philosophers like Diogenes, develop their own philosophies to act as guides through life.
Many times, in Diogenes of Sinope I would stop to remind myself to consider why Odell would include this writing in her own. Sometimes I would have to reread sections when the concepts and philosophy were too difficult to understand the first time through. But one specific quote reminded stood out right away. Towards the end of his writing, Navia inspires readers by exclaiming how:
Whether behind a street barricade in Paris, or the mountains of Bolivia, or in the Walden woods, or creating hope for humanity in the solitude of a writer’s studio, all those souls who have endeavored to unsettle the status quo of the social-political world, have carried with them the lighted lamp of the man in the tub, searching generally in vain for a speck of true humanity in their midst, but reminding us that if human life is a mistake, it is only because we have allowed it to be so. (Navia, 135)
This inspiring quote could have easily been separated into multiple individual notes, each building on the next. But the way that Navia organizes this statement reminds me of How to Do Nothing. The first is that this style works almost like a thought progress, like Odell’s mixed organization of thoughts and quotes called How to Do Nothing.
I believe that their similarities as writers are only one reason that Odell chooses to include Navia’s Diogenes of Sinope. I believe that Odell also examined and included Diogenes of Sinope to give an example of an extremist who went against society’s norms. It is when Odell refers to how “Socrates famously favored conversation, [but] Diogenes practiced something closer to performance art”(Odell, 66), that Odell begins to illuminate how eccentric Diogenes was. While I do believe that this is not what Navia wanted his readers to understand, at this early point in How to Do Nothing, the drastic ideals of the communes are still in the minds of the readers and Odell is still trying to show that total separation will not be healthy. Odell might have also been drawn to Navia’s writing because of the number and variety of stories. From the scene where Diogenes keenly investigated “a child drinking from his hands” who “[beat] [Diogenes] in plainness of living” to the “waking up the populace from a general stupor,” called typhos meaning fog, smoke, or fog (Odell 66, 92). When Odell presents Diogenes through Navia’s writing, she does recognize cynicism, but the purpose of including Diogenes was for his acts against the standards of life.
Despite the differences between the purposes of their books, I believe that Odell is inspired by Navia’s writing. At first, it seemed as if Odell wanted to pick and choose from Diogenes of Sinope to set another example of an extreme activist. If someone who has not read How to Do Nothing was told how five out of eight of Odell’s quotes were chosen from the first two chapters, that someone might assume that Odell does not fully understand Navia’s purpose for writing Diogenes of Sinope. But Odell enjoyed explaining how many stories about Diogenes’ defying the standard inspire others who have not explored Diogenes like Navia has, explaining that Diogenes’ “performance art has not gone unnoticed by the contemporary art world”(Odell, 67). So, while exploring Odell’s quotes from Diogenes of Sinope for ourselves, we find that the book is only referenced in Chapter 3, Anatomy of a Refusal. This is of course most likely due to the many sources that Odell wanted to include in her writing and the limited area that Odell wanted to recognize from Diogenes of Sinope.
While Odell does explore Navia’s Diogenes of Sinope, I believe that there is one key aspect that Odell does not explore that would add to her purpose of self-help. The fact is, Diogenes lived and died more than two-thousand, three-hundred years ago. That leaves plenty of time for his stories and philosophy to disappear from the history books. But Diogenes is still discussed. And, if we aim to continue talking about Diogenes, we should do our best not to leave out both, his life, and his philosophy. Therefore, I would have enjoyed learning more about cynicism in How to Do Nothing. The main fact that should be explained more is how “the school of Cynicism [Diogenes] inspired [is] in sharp contrast to the modern meaning of cynicism,” a difference I was unsure of before reading either book(Odell, 92). While this is a quote from Odell, this is part of the only paragraph that discusses that Diogenes’ philosophy is not like modern cynicism, which is an idea that is more than two-thousand years after the prior idea. If she mentioned how Navia thought that Diogenes “gave birth to a conception of rationality that would underlie in time the efforts of so many theorists and revolutionaries” Odell could show readers that Diogenes should not only be mentioned for his acts by themselves, but for the reasons that his many acts (Navia, 135). Odell could have used Diogenes as inspiration to readers rather than for readers to think that Diogenes was the extreme case.
To put it all together, Odell effectively used Diogenes of Sinope as an aid to help readers understand how the philosophies of a man who lived thousands of years ago are still relevant to their actions today. Diogenes of Sinope is the extensive guide to Diogenes, Odell mentions the publication amongst other works to discuss Diogenes but could add more information to allow readers to fully understand Diogenes. I do not think that Odell should change How to Do Nothing to How to Be Diogenes, but if Odell included more ideas from Navia, readers would be more inspired to develop their personal philosophies if not better understand their own philosophies.
